London Ambulance Service is making final preparations for winter as the changing season brings an early surge in calls from very sick patients and those with respiratory illnesses.
Recent weeks saw a spike of patients with breathing difficulties with the elderly and vulnerable groups among the hardest hit, together with a sharp rise in calls for the sickest patients whose hearts have stopped or who are not breathing.
During the service’s busiest ever September, more than 10,000 patients were seen for breathing problems – just over 330 a day. The first week of October has seen this climb to almost 360 a day.
Calls for the sickest patients – known as ‘Category 1’ – have risen steadily to well over 500 a day in recent days. LAS would usually expect to attend 400 on a typically busy day.
In recent days, 111 calls have risen 19% on the same time last year as people seek advice around colds and flu.
London Ambulance Chief Executive Jason Killens KAM said:
“The unprecedented demand we saw this summer shows no sign of easing up. We are already starting to see the earliest signs of winter as respiratory infections and viral infections start to rise.
“I’d like to thank all our people who worked hard to get to patients through a record-breaking summer and continue to provide compassionate care to the capital through this time of increased pressure.
“As 999 and 111 calls continue to rise and we attend a much higher number of extremely sick patients than is usual for the time of year, it’s timely that we have finalised the most detailed planning for winter we have done to reinforce our response.
“This includes the use of AI to free up time for clinicians, more crews on the road and in control rooms, and more patients being treated over the phone so they don’t have to go to hospital unnecessarily.
“Londoners can help us. As ever, please only use 999 for emergencies. GPs, pharmacies and 111 are good places to get advice about colds, flu and seasonal illnesses.
“I would also encourage anyone who is eligible to get a flu vaccine to get one as soon as possible to help protect themselves and the vulnerable this winter.”
LAS is currently taking between 6,000 and 6,500 999 calls a day compared with 5,500 on a typically busy day. On Monday 5 October, we received more than 6,800 999 calls.
The surge in demand comes just after London Ambulance Service finalised its operational plans for this winter. LAS has been working closely with partners in the capital for many months to plan a city-wide approach to winter.
The resulting Winter Plan includes:
- LAS putting additional ambulances out on the road during peak demand
- Innovative ways of caring for patients, such as using trusted AI tools to help with recording patient notes
- more clinicians treating patients over the phone to avoid busy emergency departments
- Scaling up cleaning and vehicle repair capacity across the fleet and estates to ensure safe, clean vehicles are readily available
- Working with hospitals to ensure that patients are handed over in a more timely manner at A&E departments.